| The Continuation of the
Discussion: the Answer of an ’Armenian’ to Muslim Mamedov
Dear Muslim,
I would like to gratify you for your answer and also to note
that I do not categorically agree with the most of your assertions.
In your letter you were completely right, saying that my statements
are the statements of a man, who has not understood anything
in the essence of the newest history and it is so indeed.
For me as for a man knowing nothing about policy, Basaev,
who came to historically Armenian grounds –Artsah to be at
war against my people, is an aggressor. Armenians, as well
as Chechens, have the right to determinate themselves according
to the international norms, and I do not need to subtilize
political realities to judge a person who has taken a part
in occupation of our lands.
I would also like to note, that before saying that in Artsah
not that many Armenians were fighting as regular Russian troops,
you do not need to forget that Soviet regular troops were
fighting against Artsah resistance.
In a number of known retaliatory measures against Armenian
people is the operation ‘Ring, which was lead at the end of
April – the beginning of May 1991,by joint forces of groups
of militia of special purpose of Azerbaijan and the Ministry
of Internal Affairs of the USSR. The unprecedented act of
the state terror was carried out under covering of ‘checking
a passport system’, pursuing the purpose to decapitate the
Movement and to destroy the national unity.
The first victims became the inhabitants of the Armenian
villages Getashen and Martunashen of Hanlar region in Azerbaijan
.All the man’s population was taken out in an unknown direction,’
checking a passport system’ was accompanied by violence, robber
,brigandage .In three-week term the population of 24 Karabah
villages was deported: two of them are in the region of Hanlar,
three in the one of Shaumyan , fifteen in Gadrut region and
four in the Shushino region .I also can not understand , where
Azerbaijanians have taken fighting aircrafts from in which
they still have superiority. May be, it has fallen from the
moon? Besides, I am publishing the evidence of a person, who
has directly taken part in the fights for Artsah.
Nagorniy Karabah , the mountainous, formerly blossoming
land with a soft climate was in the structure of Azerbaijan
since 1923.As Roman considers , the events in Nagorniy Karabah
were preceded with the slaughter in Sumgait arranged by Azerbaijanians
and Armenians in February ,1988.Sumgait has aggravated up
to a limit uneasy , based on a centuries-old enmity , attitudes
between two peoples. Our interlocutor has mentioned the numerous
facts of destruction of many Armenian religious relics by
order of the Azerbaijanian authorities. In his opinion, there
was a policy of violent assimilation of Armenians. All this
has led to a catastrophic explosion – to the war which our
visitor considers to be national-liberation on the part of
the Armenian population.
Roman participated in the war since 1991, first as a volunteer.
‘I am not at the age of call-up, so I could stay in the rear,
but my conscience did not allow me to do so. First the group
was at the boarder of Armenia and Azerbaijan. There was very
restless there: firing was regular – the sky at night was
‘broken –of ‘by dotted lines of tracer bullets. Azerbaijanians,
whom the Armenians called ‘Turks ‘, made attacks on the Armenian
villages, killed people, grasped hostages, stole cattle ".
As our interlocutor confesses, at first, it was very hard
for it. Affected, that his service in army has fallen to the
second half of the 70th years and much was forgotten.
But in a month he was quickly involved. If you want to live,
you will learn to be at war.
The group in structure of which Roman was , at various times
totaled from 5 up to 170 people. Fighters named themselves
fedainami - liberators. They were basically armed with infantry
arms: automatic devices, machine guns plus anti-tank grenade
cup discharges and some easy mortars. First the group did
not have a centralized supply by the weapon and ammunition.
But then, when the division has proved well in fights, the
Ministry of Defence of Armenia began to support it with necessary
weapon and food. Roman has noted that not all the weapon was
from arsenals of the Soviet Army. Something was produced by
Armenia, in particular, the mentioned above mortars and ammunition
to them.
In a year of continuous fights Roman's group, in which he
managed to rise to the rank of the assistant of the commander,
has been thrown to the area called Lachinskogo, a corridor,
which was "a path of life"for Karabah inhabitants,
connecting them with Armenia. The Armenian groups within three
days conducted fierce fights in this area. Eventually, they
managed to put under the control the whole Lachinsky corridor.
In revenge Azerbaijanians started to fire at road from installations
"Hailstones".
The situation at the front was complicated also because
after the disorder of the Union the most part of the weapon
of the Fourth Common Troops army was in hands of Azerbaijanians
There were hundreds of tanks T-72, armored troop-carriers,
fighting machines of infantry and various artillery systems.
Besides in Azerbaijan there were hundreds of Soviet officers,
as a matter of fact, forsaken by the command, many of them
did not have money to leave for home - for Russia or somewhere
else. Azerbaijanians have suggested them to do some fighting
a little for dollars. Many refused, but there were also many
of them who agreed.
Also Chechens began to be at war on the side of brothers-coreligionists.
They say,that ,Shamil Basaev had an original training in Nagornyi
Karabah. Except for Caucasians, Kazakhs from various nationalist
groupings were at war there. Military counselors from Turkey
and the Ukrainian nationalists from UNA-UNSO battled for Baku.
After one of the fights Roman, examining corpses of enemies,
found among them an Arabian mercenary. There were documents
in the Arabian language with him. Later the Afghani mojaheds
arrived to Karabah.
Most of all fedain remembered fights under Kelbadzharom.
At this time there was enough military equipment and artilleries
in the Armenian formations. On the party of Karabah-defenders
guys from Moscow, Peter and Ryazan began to be at war. Mercenaries
from Baltic, the sportsmen-biathlonists, fighting as snipers
also have arrived. By the way, according to Roman's statement,
then, on the party of Azerbaijanians there were many women-snipers
from Russia, Ukraine and Baltic. During fights for one of
villages a woman-sniper within many hours alone constrained
the approach of their group.
"She shot so, that you could not raise your head. But
we all the same managed to kill her. And we entered this village
".
This war did not do without incidents. Roman and two fedains
reconnoitred. Halfway to the positions of the opponent they
decided to examine an abandoned farm, and the automatic device
of one of the fighters has made an involuntary shot .And then
it began! The farm began to be fired from both the Azerbaijan
and the Armenian party. It was still good, that the parties
saved artillery shells – everything managed with automatic
and machine-gun fire. But all the same the sensation was not
pleasant. Moreover the reconnaissance was frustrated. Once
Armenian anti-aircraft gunners brought down their low-flying
attack aircraft, the catapulted pilot was beaten for a long
time, though he shouted ‘’ I am with you "and tried to
show his documents.
Nevertheless, despite of such discrepancies, the fighting
spirit of the army of Nagornyi Karabah always was high.
"Certainly, we were at war for the Native land. There
was no place to recede for us, behind us there were our houses
and if we had lost, we would have been cut out as in 1915
when one and a half million of Armenians were killed. And
that is why, we won ,as a rule. Especially after the fact
that the majority of mercenaries-Slavs which were simply deceived
and were not paid neither dollars, nor roubles, ran away,
having paid that that dollars, but also, fighting capacity
of the army of the opponent has abruptly fallen. Azerbaijanians
began to sustain catastrophic losses. They say, that boys
- the yesterday's schoolboys caught in villages, turkish instructors
hastily trained and almost at once threw in fight. In order
that recruits would not scamper about, there were protecting
groups of the Azerbaijanian militia of special purpose behind
them, shooting anyone who would turn back .Therefore hundreds
of corpses remained to lay on a battlefield. And as a rule,
the ratio of the lost Armenians and Azerbaijanians was 1:25.
About low fighting spirit of the contradictory party also
the fact said that in radio interceptions very much frequently
it was possible to hear as different Azerbaijan groups sold
each other weapons and ammunition, bargaining because of each
shell and a cartridge ".
"The Enemy should be respected, underestimation it
very dangerous. But sometimes actions of the opponent were
difficult to understand - the whole parts were independently
removed from front and gone to the deep rear, for example,
to Baku for the next military coup d'etat ".
Here is one more episode eloquently telling us about preparations
of the opponent. Fedain’s patrol of two people - Roman and
his relative - has run into the big group of Azerbaijanians
in a dense fog. Armenians almost at once opened fire from
automatic devices and receded. When the fog dissipated, 15
corpses laid on the battlefield. Such losses would not have
been, if Azerbaijanians had not walked as a dense crowd.
According to Roman, Armenians of Nagorniy Karabah have lost
more than 6000 people killed. Losses of the contradictory
party go already on tens thousand. As our interlocutor considers,
war in this region can flash again at any moment. Authorities
of Baku have not reconciled to loss of the former autonomy.
There is an amplified purchase of the weapon - in Russia,
Turkey, countries of the NATO. Turkish military counselors
have settled in this former Soviet republic for a long time.
So it turns out, that Armenia remains for Russia the unique
strategic ally in Transcaucasia.
The Armenian.
Chechenpress, the Department
of letters, 05.10.04
23.10.04
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